Hello my peeps, this is Salem52 signing in. I have to say, I love the response I got from the last chapter, you guys are so awesome. This kind of response is something that truly motivates the author to continue to write. Now, to you all, I humbly present the first chapter of…

For Those Who Remember

The Three Rules of Alchemy

1. Equivalent Exchange: In order to obtain or create something, something of equal value must be lost or destroyed.

2. Transmutation: In order to transmute, a focus must be created, without, all transmutations will unequivocally fail.

3. Human Transmutation: Human Transmutation is strictly forbidden, for while the materials of transmutation may be obtained, for what could equal the value of a human soul?

Edward Elric was sitting in a chair, at the only open air bar in the desert city of Lior. If one were to look at Ed, they would see a young man of fifteen with long blonde hair, a long red coat, and a rather short stature. He wore a short-sleeved black shirt and pair of long black pants. He wore white gloves and a pocket watch chain was hanging out his right pants pocket attached to a utility belt on his abdomen. On the back of his red coat was a depiction of the Flamel; a cross encircled by a snake and crowned with wings and a halo.

Sitting next to him was his younger brother, Alphonse Elric, who was in a great suit of metal armor, also sporting the Flamel on his left shoulder. The suit was easily six feet tall, suggesting that he was much larger than his older brother.

The city that they were in, Lior, was located in eastern section of the country of Amestris. Amestris was very militaristic, its land that primarily attained through the conquest of neighboring city-states and countries. Amestris itself was a major alchemical superpower, the world leader in new age alchemy. Alchemy played a key role in conquering their neighboring nations. In Amestris, the highest office for an alchemist was the coveted position of state alchemist.

Edward Elric was the youngest state alchemist in history.

"God's children who live upon this land," blared the radio on the counter next to Ed, "Pray in faith and ye shall be saved,"

Ed looked at the radio in slight annoyance, before turning back to the food on his plate, tuning out the voice of the preacher. He sat there for a moment longer, looking down at his food, before looking up at the bartender's curious gaze. Ed sighed, before taking a swig of his drink.

"So…uh, are you guys circus performers or something?" inquired the bartender.

Ed opened his eyes in shock, before spitting out his drink and coughing in exasperation.

"Do we actually look like circus performers to you?" inquired Ed, slightly annoyed.

"Well yeah," replied the bartender, "there was another guy here who looked like he was from the circus as well, but I didn't ask him, 'cause I thought it would be impolite. But then you guys come along and I jus' had to ask,"

Ed growled in annoyance, before hopping off his seat.

"Come on Al, let's go," said Ed as he turned to leave. The large suit of armor next to Ed nodded and got up. But as he turned, his arm brushed the radio, causing it to fall and break into multiple pieces.

"Hey!" cried out the bartender in indignation, "I didn't mean nothing by what I said, and that radio is a lot of money,"

Ed turned and held out his hands in a placating manner.

"No worries, it was just an accident," stated Ed, before reaching into his utility belt, pulling out a stick of chalk and handing it to his brother, "We can fix this,"

"But how? The things smashed to bits," the bartender inquired curiously. The commotion was garnering the attention of a few passersby, who stopped to watch how the two brothers were going to fix the radio.

Ed only smiled and gestured to his brother.

"Just watch and learn, gramps," said Ed smugly as his brother drew a circle on the ground with a simple six-sided pentagram inscribed upon it. Within minutes, the circle was completed. After placing the pieces of the radio onto the circle, Al held his hand above it and a moment later the bright blue light of an alchemical reaction engulfed the bits of radio. When the light dimmed, it revealed a brand new radio that showed nothing of its previous state of disrepair.

"For it is through his light that…" spouted out the radio as though nothing happened.

The crowd of onlookers "ahhed" in amazement. The bartender turned away from his radio to look at the brothers.

"It's a miracle," he breathed out, amazed, "You must have been touched by The Sun God Leto, just like father Cornello!"

"I've been touched by who?" asked Ed, confused. The bartender looked at them, his mouth gaping open in astonishment.

"It's not a miracle," interjected all, his voice that of a young child, "It's just alchemy,"

"Oh, then you guys are alchemists," stated one of the onlookers.

"Yea, I've heard of them!" added another of the crowd. Ed smirked, before striking a flamboyant pose and pointing towards himself and all.

"Then you've all probably heard of us," stated Ed, "we're the Elric brothers,"

"The Elric brothers?" inquired the bartender.

"Oh yeah! I've heard that name before! You're the Fullmetal alchemist, Edward Elric!" exclaimed another one of the onlookers. Ed smiled and closed his eyes, basking in the praise of the crowd…until he got pushed out the way. Realizing only now, that the crowd was mistaking his brother, his TALLER brother, for himself; he was about to shout at the crowd to let them know that he was the Fullmetal alchemist when his brothers voice rang out amongst the crowd.

"A-actually, I'm not the Fullmetal alchemist," said Al.

The crowd went immediately silent, before simultaneously looking at Ed in disbelief.

"That little shrimp is the Fullmetal alchemist?" inquired one of the crowd who was actually voicing the entire crowds thoughts.

Ed growled in heavy annoyance, before screaming.

"WHO'S LITTLE? COME AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE YOU BASTARDS!" yelled out Ed, chasing down the crowd of people who would dare taunt him about his height. His stature was always a touchy subject. It wasn't his fault that he hadn't hit his growth spurt yet (or such were the delusions that Ed fed himself on a daily basis).

After calming down, Ed walked back up to the bar and sat down on one of the stools, before looking at the bartender.

"So, who's the guy who is preaching on the radio?" inquired Ed to the bartender. The bartender was a little wary of Ed's outburst, but obligingly answerd his question, not wanting to anger him.

"That's our leader, Father Cornello," explained the bartender. "We were lost until he came to our city, he taught us the ways of the Sun God Leto, who grants immortal life to the souls of the faithful. People even say that he resurrects the dead. The Father's miracles are proof of Leto's power."

Ed scowled at the way the man spoke; a devout believer.

"So," Ed began, "this guy's claiming he can bring the dead back to life? This is something I have to see,"

Ed turned to all, before nodding and turning back to the bartender.

"If it is alright, could you tell us where we could find Father Cornello?" asked Ed. The bartender smiled before replying.

"So you wish to learn of Leto's ways," he said reverently. "You can always find Cornello at the Church of Leto in the center of the city, and you're in luck. Today he is performing mass at 12:30 at the church. If you hurry, you could make it before he starts,"

Ed nodded, pulling a wallet out of an interior pocket of his coat, pulling out a wad of paper senz, the currency of Amestris, and placing it on the counter of the bar. He turned and started down the road toward the center of the city and, presumably, this Father Cornello's "miracles".

XxX

Ed and Al looked on in silence as the crowd around them roared for the umpteenth time. For the last hour or so, this Father Cornello had been doing "miracles" and he had just completed another one, transmuting a flower that he had caught from one of the crowd, into a larger red and yellow version of the same flower. The only difference between the two was the fact that the larger flower was made of precious gems, instead of the organic plant matter of the smaller flower. Ed turned toward his brother.

"So, Al, what do you think?" inquired Ed, wanting Al's input on the Priest's "miracles."

"Well, there is no doubt that Father Cornello's miracles are definitely alchemy," replied Alphonse. Ed nodded, before returning his gaze to Cornello. He was about to make another comment, when a voice made itself known…between the brothers.

"Those are some pretty cool tricks, ain't they," said the voice.

Ed and Al made a sound of exclamation, as they backed a step away from the owner of the voice. Ed looked up to see an oddly-dressed man. The man stood at about six foot even and had long blonde hair like Ed's, albeit a little wilder. One of the most striking features was the man's deep blue eyes, which was quite rare for Amestris, as the most common eye color was brown and green. As for his dress; he wore a burgundy dress shirt with the top button undone, an old, black, high-collared coat that went down to his ankles, and loose black dress style pants. He also had on a conical straw hat that was most commonly used by the rice farmers in far of Xing. On the man's feet was the oddest pair of sandals that Ed had ever seen. They were, essentially, two flat pieces of wood that were attached to the feet by pieces of padded leather. On the soles of the sandals were two wooden protrusions that extended down from the sandal about three inches.

After a moment of staring at the man, Ed finally managed to respond.

"Who are you?" inquired Ed.

The man only shrugged, before replying."Nobody, really, just a traveler," Ed scowled.

"You're dressed pretty oddly for a 'nobody," retorted Ed. The man only gave a half smile.

"You're one to be talking, short-stuff."

Ed growled in anger, before launching himself at the man, screaming.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL, YOU COULDN'T EVEN FEEL THEM IF YOU STEPPED ON THEM?!" the man dodged to the side, letting Ed sail past him, before laughing whole-heartedly.

"You know what, kid, I like you. I think I might just tag along with you," stated the man, extending a hand down to Ed. Ed looked up at the hand for a moment, before grasping it and pulling himself up.

"What make you think you can tag along with us?" inquired Ed, indignantly. The man only smiled wider.

"Who said you had a choice," he replied, before extending his hand again, except this time in greetings.

"What's your name, kid?" inquired the man.

"Edward Elric, and you?" the man stopped for a moment, before smiling.

"My name, well, I guess you could call m Naruto Uzumaki,"

XxX

Naruto was sitting in one of the pews a few rows behind the Elric brothers; they were all in the Grand Church of The Sun God Leto. He wore a smile like always, except this one was more grim. He had just heard the older Elric brother, Ed, list off the ingredients of the human body like a shopping list to one the fanatics of Leto, a girl by the name of Rose. After which, he told her the tale of Daedalus and Icarus.

"That is some obscure knowledge. Since Xerxes was destroyed, I'm surprised anyone even knows of Greece, even if it is only through their tales," said Naruto to himself. He half-expecting a voice to resound through his head. When he heard no response, he sighed and stood up in the pews and walked over to the brothers.

"You know," started off Naruto, grasping Ed's shoulder, "as much as I know you like disproving other people's beliefs, I believe you came here for something,"

Ed looked at Naruto warily, before brushing Naruto's hand off his shoulder and turning towards Rose. He sighed.

"Rose, do you think your Father Cornello could convert a poor old sinner like me?" said Ed, almost choking on the false sincerity that he had put into that statement.

Rose's eyes lit up in happiness.

"Of course! Father Cornello will help anyone who comes to his church seeking redemption in the eyes of our Lord!" she exclaimed, choosing to forget the previous conversation, wanting to instead help Ed's poor lost soul.

"You don't mind if I tag along, do you?" he inquired.

Rose just nodded enthusiastically, before dashing off to a side door, yelling.

"I'll be back. I have to let Father Cornello know that you have come to be saved. I will be back in just a moment!" With that said, she disappeared behind a door and left the trio of travelers alone. They all stood there for a moment, until Naruto decided to move to sit on one of the pews. He looked at the brothers, expecting them to sit, before shrugging and crossing his arms in front of himself.

"So, Ed, where'd you read the story of Daedalus and Icarus," inquired Naruto? He leaned back and put his arms behind his head, having found that having his arms crossed in front of himself was not comfortable

Ed was apparently just as surprised as Naruto that someone else knew of the ancient tale. He just stared at Naruto for a moment, before slightly shaking his head and replying, "When I was younger, I had an…accident. While I was recovering I had a lot of time to research and I came upon the history of Xerxes and part of their cultures and stories. I guess they just caught my interest. How do you know about it? As you know this is not exactly common knowledge. You're the first person I've ever met who's even heard of Daedalus and Icarus.

Naruto struck a thoughtful pose.

"Well, I guess you could call me a historian," replied Naruto, which wasn't a complete lie. He probably knew more about the history of the world than any other person on it.

Ed nodded in understanding, accepting that answer. They sat there in relative silence until Rose came in about ten minutes later with another man, a Brother Krei. Krei bowed to them, before leading them through a door at the side of the auditorium. He brought them down several floors, before stopping in front of two large wooden doors, guarded by two men in white robes, bearing long spears.

"The Father will see you now," said Brother Krei, before opening the double doors and leading them into a large, cavernous, underground room.

"Good, we don't have a lot of time," replied Ed, annoyed that they had been brought all the way down to some room, just to see Father Cornello.

"Well then," stated Brother Krei, stopping a few paces ahead of the group, "LETS MAKE THIS QUICK,"

Brother Krei spun around to face them, holding a large caliber revolver, and pointing it directly at Alphonse. Rose gasped in surprise, when one of the men in the white robes grabbed her and forced away from the group and the inevitable bullets that would be loosed upon them.

"BROTHER KREI, what is the meaning of this!" she exclaimed in surprise and no small amount of fear. Brother Krei looked over at her, before turning his eyes back to Alphonse.

"These men are heathens Rose. They are here to try to disprove and discredit Leto and our Father Cornello. They must be purged," he cried out, before pulling the trigger of his gun and shooting the metal clad head of Alphonse.

"NO, Alphonse!" cried out Rose, as the metal helmet launched from the suit of armor, only to reveal the suit to be…empty.

"WHAT!" exclaimed the man in surprise, shocked at the empty metal suit.

"Well, now that is VERY interesting," came a voice from behind Krei. Everyone gasped in surprise, not having seen Naruto move, or even notice him until he had spoken.

"How did he move that fast?" everyone wondered.

Krei tried to distance himself so that he could see Naruto, but before he could even make a move to get away, a sharp pain entered his back. The last thing he felt before blacking out was two hands wrapping themselves around his head and twisting.

Everyone gasped again, except this time in shock as a fellow human being had just been killed. Ed looked at the falling body, watched as it crumpled to the floor. His face morphed into a mask of hate and anger.

"WHY DID YOU KILL HIM, YOU BASTARD," cried out Ed, clapping his hands together and pressing them into the ground.

Blue light flowed from his hands, just like when Alphonse had fixed up the radio. This time though, there was no radio, instead, the very ground rose up and enveloped Naruto in a cocoon of hard rock and stone. Naruto's eyes widened. For the first time in a long while he was truly surprised.

"I'm just seeing all kinds of interesting things today now aren't I," stated Naruto, not even trying to escape from his sedimentary prison.

"SHUT UP!" yelled out Ed in anger, "That man didn't need to die, WHY DID YOU KILL HIM!"

The perpetual smile that was on Naruto's face disappeared to be replaced with a scowl.

"Ed," started off Naruto, his voice very serious, "what do you think Krei would have done after his shock had worn off? Do you think he would just throw down his gun and say 'Oh well, I tried,'?" queried Naruto, Ed just stayed silent, looking down. "To answer the question, no, he would have resumed firing, most likely at you. Or threaten to shoot Rose until he was in a more favorable position to kill you and your brother. Remember Ed, nothing and no one is more important than those who are closet to your heart,"

Ed didn't respond. He just stood there with his head down, knowing that what Naruto was saying was not only plausible, but incredibly likely.

"Brother," said Alphonse soothingly. Ed snapped out of his anger and looked toward Alphonse.

"Yeah Al?" inquired Ed. Al looked bashful, if a suit of armor could accomplish such a feat.

"Well…while I don't really like that he killed that man, I can understand where he is coming from. He did it to protect us. So, for that," it was then that Alphonse turned to the still- cocooned Naruto and bowed toward him. "Thank you very much, Naruto, for protecting my brother, Rose, and I."

Naruto only looked toward Alphonse, before smiling and shrugging, or as best he could, considering his current situation.

"No problem Al, just make sure your brother doesn't blow up at me next time, and also watch your step, I don't think those two would appreciate you stepping on any of their extremities," replied Naruto.

Ed, Al, and Rose turned around to see the two white robed guards knocked out on the ground. They each turned around to inquire about how Naruto had managed to move so fast when a voice rang out across the room.

"What is all of this commotion about!?"

The group looked to the end of the room to see a pair of doors slide open, revealing a man walking down a long set of steps. The man was around five foot eight, around his mid to late fifties, and had a bald head. He was also immensely overweight and had a walking cane. He was dressed in the robes of a priest and wore leather sandals.

"Damn it! Krei was one of my most devout followers," spoke the man irritated. He looked at the people in the hall. His eyes came upon Rose.

"Ahh, Rose, my child, how are you this fine day?" asked Cornello, morphing from the irate old man to the kindly priest in the blink of the eye. Rose bowed quickly.

"Father Cornello, why did you dothis? Why did you order these men killed," inquired Rose, her voice almost desperate. The Father put his hand on his chin, before replying.

"Rose, my child, these men are traitorous heathens, who would sow seeds of doubt against our great lord Leto," spoke Father Cornello, illustrating his actions by thrusting his hand in front and closing his fist quickly, as though he were squashing a fruit of some kind, "Now, Rose, my child, pick up that gun and shoot Edward Elric,"

Ed and Al, looked back toward Rose who had just picked up the gun and was staring at it in fear. She then looked at Ed, and slowly lifted the gun, before pointing it at him.

"Good, my child. Know that Leto blesses those who are loyal to him with eternal life and the return of their loved ones," encouraged Cornello. He knew that the girl was putty in his hands once he brought up the resurrection of her beloved, deceased, boyfriend.

Rose, hearing the words of Cornello, looked as though she were about to shoot, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw the smiling face of Naruto.

She then dropped the gun and fell to her knees, crying, horrified that she was just about to kill another human being.

Cornello growled in irritation. His pawn had obviously lost her confidence and was going to be useless.

Naruto walked away from the crying Rose, before leveling a cold glare at Cornello.

"You know, Father Cornello," began Naruto, "in my past, I've had dealings with many who have manipulated those who were too desperate or to weak-willed to do anything but follow. I highly dislike your kind, and personally I would like nothing more than to break your fat neck, but these boys here have some questions they'd like answered. So if you oblige them, I can offer a fitting punishment later." With that said, Naruto walked to the side of the room and leaned against it.

"Now then, Father Cornello," said Ed, turning away from the crying Rose, "I have some questions to ask you,"

"Oh, and what might those be," inquired Cornello, obviously miffed about Rose not killing the Elrics. Now he had to talk his way out the situation diplomatically.

"Well, like how you are using second-rate alchemy to manipulate your followers," accused Ed. Cornello smiled, almost seeming to adopt a persona at will.

"What I do is not alchemy, boy. I have merely been touched by the sun god Leto, and he performs his miracles through me. Besides, if what you say is true, how could I be transmuting something more, out of something less?" retorted Cornello, smirking as he believed he had stumped the Elric.

"Yeah, that is what I thought too," explained Ed, "but as I started thinking about it, there is one way that you could do it." Ed then pulled out a small notebook, the one that held the ingredients for the average adult. "The Secret elixir, the Red Stone, the Fifth Element, it goes by many names, but each account describes similar effects to what you have been doing here in Lior: my conclusion, is that you, Cornello, are in possession of a philosopher stone,"

Cornello's eyes bulged, before he started stuttering.

"Tha-that's preposterous! The philosopher stone is myth, nothing more,"

"It's probably the stone in your ring, the one on your left hand," said Ed, when he saw Cornello's eyes open even wider. Cornello then started laughing wholeheartedly.

"YOU REALLY ARE A PRODEGY, EDWARD ELRIC!" cried out Cornello, madly, "BUT NOW THAT YOU KNOW MY SECRET, I CAN'T POSSIBLY LET YOU FOUR LIVE," As he was saying this, he brought his cane out in front of him and then put it on his shoulder. He placed his left hand on the cane and a red light sprung forth from it. When the light died down, instead of a cane on Cornello's shoulder, there was a large, multi-barreled, automatic machine gun.

A moment later, Cornello pulled the trigger, releasing a continuous volley of bullets that rained down on them all.

Even using alchemy, it was all Ed and Al could do to put up a wall of earth, before the bullets came. Rose, however, did not have such a luxury. She fell back in surprise and fear. She saw her death coming and mourned the fact that she could not do more with her life. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable pain that the bullets would bring. But right before the bullets hit, she felt a pair of arms grasp her. A force hit her body, and she was grateful for the hand that was supporting her, preventing the whiplash. As soon as it came, the force left. She looked around her, not recognizing her surroundings, before realizing that she was in the corridor that they had used to enter the room she had just been in.

"Rose," said the owner of the hands that were lifting her from the floor by her shoulders, "ROSE!" yelled the voice.

At the yell, Rose looked up to see Naruto, breathing very heavily.

"Wh-How-How di-" she stuttered, not being able to comprehend how she was still alive.

"Rose, listen to me," stated Naruto, urgently, "Rose!"

"Yes," she said meekly.

"Rose, I need you to find a safe place to stay until Ed an-" he was cut off by a loud boom from the room that they had just exited. He stood up and headed towards the stairs. As he reached the base of the stairs, he turned to Rose.

"Rose," he called, gaining the girl's attention, "make sure you follow my instructions; find a safe place. You might want to get out of Lior. Things are gonna get pretty hectic soon." With that said, he rushed up the stairs to the church above.

XxX

Cornello was running back to his office, to order everyone in the city to be on the lookout for the "Traitorous Heathens" that were the Elric Brothers. He opened the door to his office, only to find the Fullmetal Alchemist himself sitting on his desk.

"Wh-wh-you infernal little BRAT! What are you doing in my office?" he asked, furious that the Fullmetal Alchemist was in his office the entire time that he had been looking for them.

"Look, do you think we can just cut the crap and talk, I just have some questions about the Philosopher stone," said Ed, smirking, "Or…maybe you'd like to get the military involved, I bet I could get them to shut down this place real good"

Cornello looked absolutely livid, but took a deep breath, and calmed down, realizing a situation like this, doesn't often present itself. He took a look behind him to make sure no one was there, before stepping into his office and closing the door.

"Alright, Fullmetal Alchemist, ask your questions," replied Cornello.

"Well, you could do anything with the Philosopher's stone right? Why waste all your time and power doing petty tricks and phony miracles," inquired Ed.

At this, Cornello actually smiled, although it was a smile of satisfaction.

"The reason I do my miracles, is that with each new miracle, I can attract more people to the religion of Letoism, people who would lay down their lives for my sake. I am slowly building a legion of holy warriors, an army of soldiers unafraid to die. If I continue my miracles, in a few more years I could have enough people in my order that I could wage war upon the world! And I'll use the Philosopher's stone to destroy this country from the inside out," He let out an evil laugh. It was cut short however, when Ed started laughing too. Except his was the laugh of someone who just been told a good joke, instead of the insane the laughter that Cornello produced.

"What! Why are you laughing, you should be cowering?!" cried out Cornello, confused.

"You know," started Ed, "you really are a novice." With that he held up the controller for the city-wide broadcast system, and pointed to Cornello's left, where a microphone was subtly placed on the floor.

Cornello looked at the controller, then looked at the microphone, and then back at the controller, before the message in his mind clicked.

His screams of anger were hid throughout the city as he tried, and failed, to get the broadcasting controller away from Ed. After a moment of struggle, Cornello backed up against the door and yelled "HOW LONG HAS THAT BEEN ON?"

Ed only laughed."The whole time. Your 'believers' heard ever, single, word,"

"YOU LITTLE BRAT, YOU'LL PAY DEARLY FOR THIS!" Cornello lifted his cane up and brought his left hand over to transmute it into a rocket launcher. However, before Cornello could lift the rocket launcher, Ed had already transmuted a knife out of one of the paper weights on the desk and sliced the barrel off of the Launcher.

"Face it," said Ed, backing away from Cornello, "You are just outclassed here,"

Cornello's eyes opened wide in surprise. But he brought his left hand up to the stump of his weapon and began another transmutation.

"No, you are the one that's outclassed, I AM WITHOUT RIVAL!" The stump of the gun started glowing red, like a laser preparing to fire. The light from the transmutation flickered erratically, then imploded. The Father's arm melded with the metal of the gun, forming a grotesque mesh of skin and metal.

"He had a rebound," muttered Ed to himself. He looked upon Cornello, who was now gasping in pain, and for a moment, felt pity. Cornello looked upon Ed, and a new fire sprang back into his eyes.

"No," he said to himself, "no, no, No, NO, I SHALL NOT BE SHAMED LIKE THIS, I AM WITHOUT EQUAL,"

After saying that, he pressed his left hand to his chest, enveloping his entire body in the red alchemical light of the Philosophers stone.

Ed looked on in abstract horror, as Cornello rose in front of him, a massive behemoth of anger and muscle. Without a moment's hesitation, Ed ran between the hulking Cornello's legs and down to the Auditorium below.

As Ed ran down the stairs to the auditorium, he could hear and feel Cornello coming down the stairs behind him. He reached the doors at the bottom of the stairs and dove left into the auditorium. Not a moment later, the hulking Cornello came bursting through the door, and the wall, landing right where Ed would have been, had he not dove left.

Cornello looked around the auditorium, spotting Ed, who had just gotten up from his dive. Cornello charged Ed, swinging madly. After a few swings, he managed to clip Ed with one of his punches, sending him flying off into one of the pews.

"Edward Elric," came out the mutated voice of Cornello, "God has deemed you to be unholy. As the fist of God, it is my duty to destroy you Heathen!"

Cornello smashed his fist down, but Ed rolled out of the way and hopped up. He ran over to the large statue of Leto in the center of the Auditorium. He clapped his hands together, then placed them on the base of the statue.

"If you want the fist of God so much, THEN YOU CAN HAVE IT!" Blue light engulfed Ed's hands and up on the top of the statue, a hand made of stone launched itself out from the statue and smashed Cornello to the ground.

A red light engulfed Cornello. He reverted back to his normal form, albeit still with his mutated right arm. He was crying in pain. Ed walked over to him, grabbed him by the head and punched him in the face.

"SHUT UP!" yelled Ed, grabbing Cornello's head again and holding it up so he could look into his eyes. "Just tell us where the Philosopher's stone is!"

Cornello only whimpered some more, then they both gasped and watched as the supposed philosopher's stone that was imbedded in Cornello's ring fell out onto the floor. Ed reached down to grab it. The stone cracked, lost its luster and disintegrated into dust.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Ed, confused, "The stone, it's supposed to be perfect material, how did it just break like that,"

"I-I d-don't know, please don't hurt me, I'm begging you. I didn't know anything about it, other than that it augmented my alchemy. I didn't know any more. Please, spare me," pleaded Cornello, breaking down into tears.

"It was a fake," stated Edward, his voice sounding incredibly dead. "We went through all that trouble, risked our lives, and for what, a damn fake,"

Cornello had stopped groveling below Ed and raised his hand like a school boy asking a question.

"So, um, what about me?" he said meekly.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THE HELL YOU DO, JUST LEAVE!" yelled Ed, Cornello did not need a second prompting, and quickly crawled out of the auditorium on hands and knees.

Ed looked around the auditorium, sighed and headed towards the exit.

"I guess it's back to square one again," Ed muttered to himself, and left to go find his brother.

XxX

The sun was setting on the city of Lior. Ed had searched the city for Al, before returning to the church, only to find Al sitting on the steps, waiting for him. Ed had explained all that had happened with Cornello and they were now discussing what to do next.

"So," Alphonse started, "the stone was a fake,"

"Yeah," confirmed Ed, "just like that preist,"

Ed sighed, before knocking on Al's armor, a grim reminder that Al did not have a body.

"I'm sorry Al, for a moment, I had actually thought we had found a way to get your body back," apologized Ed hanging his head in self-disappointment.

Alphonse was about to reply, when they heard tge sound of a gun hammer being pulled back. Ed and Al looked to see Rose pointing the gun once again, at Ed.

"Ed, give me the Philosopher's stone," stated Rose, the gun shaking in her hands.

"I'm sorry Rose, but as I was just telling Al here, the stone was a fake, it shattered,"

"YOU'RE LYING," denied Rose, tears leaking from her eyes, "You just want it for yourself, so you can use it on your bodies, and so you can see your mother again,"

Ed looked shocked, before anger overtook it.

"How do you know about that Rose?" Rose's eyes opened in fear at the sheer intensity of the older Elric's stare. Alphonse placed his hand on Ed's shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Brother, when I was setting up the loudspeaker through the city, she was there. I told of our history and why she can never bring her beloved back to li-"

"LIAR, YOU SAID THAT THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE WAS AN ALL POWERFUL ITEM, THAT IT-"

"SHUT UP," cried out Ed, tears leaking from the edges of his eyes, "people don't come back from the dead, Rose, not ever"

Rose fell to the ground, crying, muttering about how Father Cornello had told her that if she prayed enough, her beloved would be resurrected.

Believing that he could be of no more help to her, Ed walked past Rose. She turned and leapt at Ed, clinging to his red coat.

"Please," she cried, "that hope was all I had left in life. What am I supposed to do now,"

Ed scoffed, before brushed her hand off of his coat and walked down the steps.

"PLEASE, TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" cried out Rose in desperation. Ed stopped on the steps, before looking up to watch the sunset.

"I cannot do that Rose. Each of us has to find our own way in life; you have two strong legs, so use them. You are strong enough to make your own path. You don't need anyone, to tell you what to do,"

Ed and Al continued their way on down the steps, and headed towards the train station.

XxX

Cornello looked out of his office window, to the riotous crowds below. They had been gathering outside the church since his little "speech" earlier.

"That damn Brat, all that work for nothing," said Cornello to himself.

"Oh yes," said a voice from the shadows.

Cornello turned, and squinted into the darkness, only to see…Naruto. Except this Naruto looked more serious, not the carefree Naruto of before. This Naruto, looked like a hard, cold, killer.

"I know how it feels to have ones plans completely and utterly ruined," continued Naruto.

Cornello narrowed his eyes, before growling. "You," he said, getting angrier, "you helped the 'Fullmetal-Brat' do all this to me. YOU'RE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE," yelled out Cornello, pulling out a small pistol and pointing it at Naruto. But before he could even think about pulling the trigger, Naruto disappeared from view. A moment later, Naruto reappeared in front of Cornello, grasping the priest's head as though it a fruit. Naruto leaned in next to Cornello's ear and whispered.

"You know when I said earlier, about how I really dislike your kind," said Naruto, "I lied. I absolutely loathe those like you. But the worst thing is, I used to be just like you." Cornello backed up and looked into Naruto's eyes. There was a brief flash of purple in them. But before he could do anything more than blink, Naruto tore his hand away from Cornello's head.

To a normal person, it would have looked like Cornello had just fainted on the spot, but if one were able to see chakra, the spiritual energy that exists in all things, they would have seen something truly terrible. Balled up in Naruto's hand, was Cornello's soul. Naruto shivered a little, as he closed his fist on the ball, absorbing all that was Cornello, into himself.

Naruto looked around the room, walked up to Cornello's library and took a couple of books. He then turned toward the corpse of Cornello and did a slight bow, his playful persona showing itself, albeit, quite morbidly.

"Well, it was a pleasure talking to you, Cornello, but I'm afraid I must be off. I have a train ride that I do not want to miss," With that, Naruto walked to the window, opened it and disappeared in a blur of black and red.

Moments later a series of eyes and mouths started to appear out of the shadows of the office, all looking at the open window.

"This is an interesting turn of events," said one of the mouths. "Father will wish to hear of this immediately." Then all at once, the eyes and mouths disappeared, leaving the corpse of Cornello as the only thing within the room.

XxX

Ed looked out of the window of the train car that he shared with Al. The night was inky dark, so he couldn't see much, but there was still a serene feeling in simply watching the darkness slide by.

"Brother," stated Al, getting Ed's attention, "Do you think Mr. Naruto will be angry that we left him in Lior,"

"You know Al, I don't know, but boy was that guy was a real character," replied Ed, yawning.

"Why thank you Ed! I'll take that as a compliment," rang out the voice of Naruto, next to Ed.

Both Ed and Al jumped in surprise, before looking to the seat next to Ed, empty not a second ago, that now held the smiling Naruto.

"What the hell!" exclaimed Ed, surprised, and more than a little wary of the ease in which Naruto had just come into their booth.

"Oh come now, Ed," replied Naruto, "is that a way to greet a friend?"

Ed looked incredibly exasperated, not even able to respond. Naruto turned to look at Alphonse, before smiling.

"At least I know Al is my friend, right Alphonse?" inquired Naruto. Al just laughed, before replying, "Yep." Both Naruto and Al laughed some more. Ed smiled at seeing his brother laugh; he then looked at the laughing Naruto, before finally sighing and turning to look out at the darkness once more.

Sure he was a little weird, and bit exuberant, but that didn't make him bad.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I think you and I could be friends," thought Ed, gazing out at the infinite blackness that was the night.

XxX

Well, how was that? I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the interactions between Naruto and the Elric Brothers. I hoped you guys liked this chapter as much as I did. Once again, I would always like to thank my director, as without her, this thing would be impossible.

Please let me know your thoughts and anything that you might find interesting, I always love to look at something from as many angles as possible.

Now, I say good luck, and good night.

This is Salem52 signing off.